Fixing the broken
by Rogue- Assassin girl
Summary: This is a quick one-shot of Briggs and Charlie following the season finale. She is having a hard time dealing with what happened but of course Paul is there for her.


An: Hello awesome readers! Here is a quick one-shot i just had to write after that finale. Charlie and Briggs are just too cute together. I promise i am working on my other graceland story too! School, life, etc have kept me much busier than i thought. I will update that one as soon as I can. But anyway, hope you enjoy this one-shot. Drop me a review :)

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Charlie tossed and turned in bed, her blankets tangling around her legs as she fought to get away from some unknown daemon. Soft cries and pleads escaped her luscious lips.

"No. Let me go. No!" Her begging gave way to screams that tore through the silent night in Graceland. Footsteps dashed towards her room and the door was thrown open, causing the female agent to dart upright in bed, breathing heavily.

"Charlie? You are alright." Paul Briggs knew right away that she had been having one hell of a nightmare. Probably reliving her time spent with Jangles just some hours earlier. He laid beside her on her bed and pulled her over to him. She held onto him tight and buried her face against his tee shirt as she relished the feel of his strong arms around her. She was safe now. Jangles was gone and Paul was here. He wouldn't let anyone hurt her again. Her breathing evened out, listening to the beating of his heart and the calming nonsense he spoke.

"He can't hurt you anymore." Paul whispered, his brown eyes bearing into hers as he softly pushed her hair back from the dried blood on her forehead. His eyes drifted downward to the bandage on her chest. He could see some of the blood that had seeped through the white gauze. It reminded him of how close he had come to losing her. If Mike hadn't- he couldn't go there. Briggs couldn't bare that thought. His arms tightened around her and he buried his face in her sleep tousled dark colored hair. Yes, Lisa had been the love of his life. She had been everything to him. But Charlie.. She was something special too. Something had always drawn him to her. He has always cared for her as more than a friend. Paul did love her. Maybe he was scared to admit that she could one day take Lisa's place in his life. He would someday come to terms with it. He didn't deserve Charlie right now anyway. After everything he lied about to her..after how guilty he had made her felt for not believing in him though her speculations were truly right.. He didn't deserve her. Maybe one day Briggs could make things right with her. Too lost in his thoughts, he hadn't noticed that Charlie had pulled her head back from him a little and was looking up at him. He cupped her left cheek with his hand and brushed his thumb across it.

"How can you deal with this? We could have died. It would have been my fault for not trusting you, Pauley." Charlie's voice cracked at the end as tears swum in her line of vision. She had betrayed him by trusting some Federali over him. She should have believe him. How could she have thought for a moment he would lie to her? How could she have ever believed he was Odin Rosse? He was Paul Briggs for god sake. He was an FBI legend. She had always looked up to him, believed in him, trusted him, loved him..yet she had been quick to dismiss him for some man she had barely known. What the hell had she been thinking? Charlie turned her head away from him in shame as tears began to flow down her cheeks.

"Chuck..look at me." Paul coaxed her, his voice as gentle as she had ever heard it. Paige was right, he was going soft. And it was because of her. He put a finger under her chin and turned her face to his. "I don't blame you for what happened. I blame Jangles." His fingers softly brushed away tears from her face as he spoke. "You want to know how I deal with it? I think about you. I think about you and remember that you are still alive. You lived and he died. I'll be thankful everyday that I didn't lose you. You are what matters." She closed her eyes as his lips pressed a kiss to her forehead. The only sound was her soft exhale. "You are strong, Charlie. You will get through this. I will be here for you always." She fisted his tee shirt as a dry sob rocked her body. How could he still care so much about her after that? She couldn't forgive herself but he had easily forgiven her.

"How could I have chosen him over you?" Charlie finally spoke aloud her thought. Paul rubbed soothing circles on her back, his eyes never leaving her face.

"Because I wouldn't help you with Odin. You felt like you had no one to turn too. That was my fault. I'm sorry I made you feel like I didn't care. If I would have just helped you then you wouldn't have turned to him." Briggs shook his head, realizing how true that was. It's not like he could've helped her find Odin. The only thing he could have done was confess but he couldn't do that. That wasn't an option. At least not now. It would have just made her hate him.

"No way are you blaming yourself for this. This was all my mess. My bad choices." She argued, her voice finally gaining back some strength. Briggs chuckled lightly at her argumentative tone. There was the return of the Charlie he loved. She was still in there no matter how broken she was.

"How about we both stop the blame card then?" She fell silent contemplating it. The small nod made a smile grow on his face. "Good. Now why don't you try and get some sleep." Paul started to move to get up but her tightened hold on him and the intense look in her eyes stopped him.

"Please don't go. I..don't want to be alone tonight." Those words felt foreign to her rolling off her tongue. Charlie has always pegged herself as a strong bad ass and here she was, too scared to be alone, begging Paul to stay. She was shattered right now and would have to get used to it. It would take some time to come out of the darkness and put the pieces back together.

"Of course I will stay. Just don't hog the covers, Chucky." Briggs grinned as he teased her. He knew she needed to feel normal again. She needed to feel like not everything had changed. He pulled the blankets up over them and held her close as she curled into him. A little smile played on her lips.

"You are the blanket hog." He laughed quietly at that and rested his chin on top of her head.

"Go to sleep, Charlie." In response she closed her beautiful brown eyes and relaxed against him.

"Goodnight, Paul."

"Goodnight, Charlie," he smiled as he replied. "I love you." He whispered against her ear. The silence made him assume that she had fallen asleep so he shut his own eyes and started to drift off but not before hearing,  
"I love you too."


End file.
